Wednesday, July 9, 2008

In our month in Queretaro, we have constantly -- incessantly -- been on the lookout for parks, playgrounds, and green space. We have had successes, and each time we come across a better park, we lament that it took us 1 week to find, or 2 weeks to find, or 3 weeks to find.

In the middle of the first week we found a wee playground inside a sports facility. The playground -- 4 swings, 2 slides, 1 teeter-totter, and one merry-go-round -- was the kind that we played on when we were kids, before all the safety/risk measures were implemented. Steve joked about making sure we had our tetanus shots current.

At the end of the first week, we were invited to someone's house in the suburbs, and made tentative conclusions about why there were no parks and playgrounds -- the upper class kids had FANTASTIC backyards. This was confirmed by a visit to another backyard later the next week. Oh, to be rich.

But then Kasia saw an ad on television that showed a really nice park/playground, so we renewed our searches. First, we found a children's library. Problem is that everytime Kasia goes, its closed. Sometimes because its Monday, sometimes because its lunch time, sometimes because the person is not back from lunch/comida yet. Then, we finally made our way over to the Bebeteca (Bebe + biblioteca) at the Luis Morin library. We knew it was on the other side of the Alameda (i.e., not that far), but we hadn't taken that extra step yet. So, imagine our dismay and sense of lost-time when we found a enormous facility with a nice bookstore, a weird children's library but with many activities, and a modern playground.

And then, finally, last weekend we found our way to the Nirvana of Queretaro's parks -- The Alfafares. It wasn't on any of our maps, its about a year old, and it has nature area, a wee lake, soccer pitches, a large playground, a place to buy snacks, etc. We were so excited that I even sprung for the push-pedal boats that I still have a hard time envisioning myself in!